Ranma Saotome, Chi Master
by SeerKing
Summary: When Ranma shows up at the Tendo Dojo, he shocks the Tendo's by defeating a Panda with a bolt of blue light. Chi? What's that? Believably stronger Ranma who isn't a jerk. Ranma x harem.
1. Here's Ranma!

**Disclaimer: Ranma ½ is the property of Rumiko Takahashi. I do not claim any of it to be mine.**

"Ranma" -Japanese speech

'_Akane_' -Thoughts

_{Grandmother}_ -Chinese

_**Attack**_ -Martial Arts Technique

**Chapter 1: Here's Ranma!**

**Tendo Dojo, Nerima Ward, Tokyo**

Sōun Tendo was sorting through the post that had just been delivered when he came upon the postcard. It had the picture of a panda eating bamboo on one side. When Sōun flipped the card to the other side, he instantly recognised the messy scrawl that served as handwriting.

"Tendo-kun-

Bringing Ranma from China.

-Saotome"

Tears began waterfalling down the Tendo Patriarch's face in joy.

'_At long last! Ranma is coming here!_' he thought, deliriously happy at the news. He leapt to his feet and set about gathering his daughters.

When Sōun stuck his head into the kitchen, he immediately honed in on the sight of his eldest daughter making tea and snacks, as she usually did for the rest of the family at this time before she started on dinner.

"Kasumi! Come into the living room, I have announcement to make to all of you girls!" he called quickly before ducking out and went searching for his other daughters.

He didn't bother checking to see if Kasumi was moving to obey him. His eldest was a good, biddable child and had never gone against his wishes. His next-eldest child on the other hand…

Sōun left the living room and climbed the stairs to the first floor. Reaching a door with a sign saying 'Nabiki' on it he opened it, revealing his daughter sprawled on her belly, reading a magazine and eating crisps on her bed.

Sōun chivvied her downstairs, then set about the most difficult task of all; tracking down his youngest daughter. Five minutes later, he was left scratching his head ruefully. He couldn't find a trace of his youngest child anywhere in the house.

He heard a yell from outside and smiled to himself. Of course. Where else could she be. He made his way towards the family dojo and the sound of smashing bricks.

As he rounded the corner, he saw his daughter smash through not one, but two bricks with a single blow.

"Akane!" he called out after the blow was struck. Akane looked up and followed her father when he gestured at her to do so.

"Nice form back there by the way." Sōun complimented her as they walked back to the house proper. Akane beamed with pride at her fathers praise.

Once all three of his daughters were settled in the living room, Sōun began his talk.

"Now then," he began, "I recently received word that my old friend Genma Saotome will be arriving in Nerima soon, along with his son Ranma. They will both be staying here." Sōun paused to get a feel for the reactions of his three daughters.

Kasumi, her long brown hair tied back in a ponytail and the most serene of the three, merely blinked in interest. Nabiki narrowed her eyes at her father and brushed some of her shoulder length black hair behind her ear. Akane had the most negative reaction of the lot, snorting in disgust and violently shaking her head in disgust, her long blue hair flapping like a tail as she did.

"Great, a _boy_ is coming here!" Akane groused, scowling as she spoke.

Sōun quailed inwardly as he usually did when his daughters were upset with him.

Or even if there was just the _possibility_ of his daughters being upset with him.

He persevered valiantly however. "Now, now, Akane. Genma is my oldest friend and he and his son will be our guests, so I will expect you to treat them with respect. Understood?" Sōun regarded her with his approximation of a 'stern paternal face' and a not inconsiderable amount of trepidation at the back of his mind.

Akane 'Hmmph'd' in displeasure, but reluctantly nodded in acquiescence.

Mentally wiping his brow in relief, Sōun steeled himself and took the plunge. "You may be wondering why I am putting my friend up like this. The answer goes back to when Saotome-kun and I were disciples under the same master. We swore an oath to unite the Saotome School of Indiscriminate Grappling with the Tendo School….through marriage."

The room was silent for a moment until Akane leapt up and slammed a clenched fist into the table.

"Now just wait a moment! Are you telling me that you've engaged one of us to this…this _Ranma_ person without our permission?!" The martial arts bluenette bit out in a snarl.

"That's right Otou-san. We've never even met this Ranma person yet." Kasumi protested softly. Nabiki remained silent but her eyes narrowed again.

Outside, the sky darkened and rain started to fall.

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**Elsewhere in Nerima….**

The girl ran down the street as it rained. She wore a red sleeveless Chinese-style shirt and black Chinese-style trousers with tie-offs at the ankles. She also wore blue armbands on her wrists. Rather unusually, she was barefoot and carried her kenpo shoes in one hand. In the other hand, she carried a large rucksack. Her fiery red hair was tied into a short braid that flapped as she ran. The girl's sapphire blue eyes blazed with an anger that was echoed across her entire face.

Behind her, a large panda ran in pursuit. It ran on its hind legs, which was unusual. As it gained on her, it lunged at the girl in an attempt to seize her.

Almost as if she were reading its mind, she dodged the clumsy grab with practiced ease.

A large vein popped on the panda's forehead and it growled. The girl pirouetted in mid-air and threw the rucksack at the panda, which barely dodged it. What the overweight panda failed to do was dodge the flying kick that the girl followed up with. The panda crashed into the tarmac of the street with an audible thud.

The girl glared at the fallen panda in outrage as she threw her shoes down, assumed a kenpo stance and gave the panda a 'come-at-me' gesture. The people in the street were perturbed and bewildered at the sight of a giant panda in the middle of the street, whispering to each other as the beast stood groggily, shook its head and glared at the girl as it too assumed a martial arts stance.

Jaws dropped from the watching passers by as they thought, almost as one being, '_A panda….who practices martial arts…..what…the…hell….?_'

Moving faster than a creature of its bulk should have been able to move, the panda unleashed a flurry of jabs at the girl, who dodged them with almost contemptuous ease.

"I _still_ can't believe you'd try to pull this on me!" the girl yelled as she continued dodging the jabs, "It sucks! Pickin' my fiancée for me!"

With those words, she grabbed one of the panda's arms and threw the massive beast onto its back with a grunt of effort.

'_Is this girl even human?!_' was the consensus of the onlookers.

The girl, panting at the effort it took to throw the panda's immense bulk, flicked her braid over her shoulder as she glared at her apparently defeated foe.

"I'm going back to China and try to sort out the messes _you_ got us into, Old Man!" she told the prone animal bitingly.

Lifting the rucksack onto her shoulder, the girl began to walk away from the panda, back down the street she had come from.

Abruptly, the panda leapt up and attempted to strike the girl on the back of the head but the girl dodged once again, almost as if she had eyes on the back of her head.

"That kinda trick stopped workin' two years ago Old Man, panda or no panda!" the girl sneered at her assailant as she once again used the rucksack as an impromptu missile.

The bout continued until the panda got in a lucky blow, knocking the girl unconscious. Growling at the staring crowd that had gathered, the victorious panda threw the knocked out girl over its shoulder and, dragging the rucksack, waddled off towards its destination.

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**Tendo Dojo**

"So where have Saotome-san and Ranma-san been living?" Kasumi enquired curiously. Sōun was grateful for her question as the tension in the room had become palpably stifling, with both Akane and Nabiki glaring at him in suspicion.

"Well, that's the funny thing." Sōun said with a nervous chuckle, "They've been on an extended journey of training for quite some time and have most recently been in the mountains of China."

" 'Extended'" Akane parroted, "How extended is 'extended'? A month? Two?"

Sōun coughed uncomfortably at his youngest daughter's line of questioning.

"I believe that it has been, ah , about ten or twelve years or so…." Sōun replied nervously.

"TEN YEARS?! How _old_ is this Ranma person anyway?" Akane exclaimed.

"He should be your age Akane." Sōun replied. Akane scowled. Kasumi sighed in disappointment; she preferred older men. Nabiki, on the other hand, looked interested.

"Is he cute? What kind of guy is he?" Nabiki asked, bombarding her father with questions.

The Tendo patriarch shrugged. "I've never met the boy, so I couldn't say." This remark earned him three simultaneous eye-rolls from his daughters.

The next moment, the Tendo household was on their feet when a shriek of feminine rage echoed across the Tendo home. They opened the sliding door to the garden and looked out to find the source.

A petite redhead leapt over the fence and landed in the centre of the garden, panting heavily. She cart wheeled backwards just as a section of the fence was knocked down revealing….a panda?!

The Tendo family gaped as the girl and the panda engaged in a bout of extremely proficient martial arts, each clash so fast that Sōun and Akane could barely keep up with the two opponents.

After one such clash, the girl yelled at the panda, her voice fill of frustration and anger, "Damn it Old Man! Back off _now_ or I'll use it!"

The panda seemed to know what 'it' was and didn't like it that much, because it hesitated for a moment before charging at the girl with a growl.

"Tch. Fine. Have it your way!" The girl growled back at the charging beast. After dodging a flurry of blows, the girl inhaled deeply and threw her chest out, causing the watching Akane to become slightly jealous of how well endowed the girl was.

Grinning cockily, the girl exhaled and thrust her hands out and cupped them together, aimed straight towards the panda, which seemed to be frozen in fear.

A shimmering glow appeared around the girl as her cocky grin grew to an arrogant smirk. Abruptly, the glow vanished as the girl called out something.

"Mōko Takabisha! (Pride of the Fierce Tiger!)"

Upon the uttering of these words, a blue beam erupted from her hands and struck the panda in the centre of its body, sending it flying into (and through) the fence, creating yet another gaping hole in the wooden structure.

In the still silence that followed, the girl was panting heavily as she stomped -barefoot, Sōun noticed- into the street through the first hole and returned carrying a large rucksack. Dropping it onto the grass, she opened it up and rummaged through it for a moment before withdrawing a long coil of rope.

Wheeling around, the girl stomped out to the panda through the second hole and trussed it up like a stick pig. She dragged it back into the Tendo Household's backyard and wiped her brow.

She then noticed the family looking at her with slack jaws and wary eyes. Seemingly unconcerned by this, she sauntered over to them.

"Err….hi." She said, slightly embarrassed by what she had done to their yard, "Sorry about the mess. The Old man wouldn't take 'no' for an answer."

"I-Indeed." Sōun replied, a bead of sweat falling down his face.

"Yeah…" the girl agreed, "By the way, where are we? I've gotta find somewhere so I can put the kibosh on whatever plans Pops here had in mind for me."

"This is the Tendo School of Indiscriminate Grappling." Akane told the girl, never taking her eyes off her in case she attacked. As Akane spoke the rain lightened, then faded into nothing.

Peering into the cloudy sky, the redhead muttered, "Finally!", before turning and walking back over to the rucksack and, after a bit more rummaging, withdrew a thermos flask from it. Returning to the Tendos, she looked at Akane and cocked her head to the side slightly.

"Y'don't say? Huh, looks like Pops was closer than I thought." mused aloud then shrugged. Opening the thermos, she then dumped the contents over her head, confusing the Tendos.

Steam rising from her body, the Tendo family gaped like freshly caught fish as the redheaded girl before them shifted forms into a male. Once the transformation had finished, the Tendos, as one, pinched themselves to see if they were dreaming, eliciting four simultaneous 'ow's from their owners.

Where once a petite and busty redhead had stood was now occupied by a tall, well built boy with black hair and his blue eyes took in the stunned family of four before him.

"The name's Ranma Saotome," the boy said in a rough voice, "and we need to talk. Now."

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**Next Chapter: The Pools of Despair**


	2. The Pools of Despair

**Disclaimer: Ranma ½ is not mine. If it was, I wouldn't be writing here, would I?**

"Ranma" -Japanese speech

'_Akane_' -Thoughts

_{Grandmother}_ -Chinese

_**Attack**_ -Martial Arts Technique

**Chapter 2: The Pools of Despair**

**Tendo Residence, Nerima Ward.**

The four Tendos eyed the boy who had, only a few short minutes ago, been a girl with a healthy dose of caution. He had fought a panda, with its superior physical strength, to a standstill and then followed that up by using something that looked suspiciously like the Kamehameha from Dragonball.

Kasumi turned to her father. "Otou-san, your friend's son is interesting."

Sōun shook his head to clear it. "{AHEM} Ranma-kun, if you are my old friend's son, tell me what he looks like."

"Fat, bald and wears glasses." The boy replied bluntly.

"That's him." Sōun nodded, "Might I ask where Saotome-kun is? He sent a postcard saying he would be coming soon…"

The boy jerked a thumb over his shoulder at the comatose panda. "That's him out there."

Sōun peered out the door. "Where? I don't see him."

"He's the panda." Ranma replied in a resigned voice.

The Tendo Patriarch gave Ranma an odd look before placing his hand on the boy's head to check for fever. Ranma swatted the hand away with irritation in his eyes and voice.

"Oi! I ain't feverish or delusional!" he snapped.

"Then why are you saying that your father is a panda?" Sōun asked, confused.

"Because I just turned from a girl into a guy? Because we've both been like this for two damned weeks?" Ranma replied, "Look, I'll explain everything, but could I have a seat? I've been running from and fighting the old man for the last two hours with no rest."

Sōun hesitated, and then nodded. "Come on in, Ranma-kun." The Tendos sat on one side of the room, Ranma on the other side.

"Now, we should probably introduce ourselves." Sōun said, "My name is Sōun Tendo, Master of the Tendo School of Indiscriminate Grappling."

"I am Kasumi Tendo. A pleasure to meet you Ranma-san" said the eldest daughter.

"Name's Nabiki." volunteered the younger sister.

"Akane. Heiress of the Tendo School." The one in a gi said shortly.

"Ranma Saotome, Heir to the Saotome School." the black-haired boy said.

"Excellent now, Ranma-kun, do tell how Saotome-kun and yourself ended up with such….unusual forms?" Sōun urged.

Ranma sighed. "Two weeks ago, Pop and I travelled to Mt. Quanjing in the Bayankala Mountain Range, in the Qinghai Province of China. Pop had heard of a 'legendary training ground of fearsome reputation', so _of_ _course_ we had to go there, despite the fact Pop never bothered to learn a single word of Cantonese or Mandarin for the entire two years we'd been in China."

"Two years?" Sōun asked, "Saotome-kun told me in a letter you had only arrived in China early last year."

Ranma snorted. "First rule of dealing with my old man is to take anything he says with a grain of salt."

"Oh my." Kasumi said a slight look of disapproval on her face. "Ranma-san, you shouldn't talk about your father like that."

"Kasumi-san, when you get to know my old man like I do, you can tell me that." Ranma replied, "Trust me, he has been called far worse and has mostly deserved every word said about him."

Kasumi merely raised an eyebrow slightly. The two younger sisters looked astonished, making Ranma look confused. Shaking that off, he continued with his tale.

"Uh…Anyways, we made it to the training ground. Turns out it was called Zhòuquánxiāng or Jusenkyō in Japanese. The place was covered in pools of water with bamboo poles sticking out of 'em." Ranma said, "See, the idea is that you fight on top of the poles and clash in midair. If you are skilled enough, you recover and land on top of another pole. If not, you take a cold plunge. Perfect training for the Saotome School because of our specialisation."

Seeing the blank looks on the three girls' faces, Ranma facepalmed. "I take it you three never knew about the Saotome School until recently like I didn't know about the Tendo School?" he asked.

"Just five minutes before you showed up." Nabiki said lazily, giving her father the evil eye.

"Huh, I only found out when the old man told me about the engagement. That's why I was trying to run away." Ranma said, "Anyway, The Saotome School focuses on midair combat as part and parcel of the training. That's why we went to Jusenkyō in the first place -at least I hope that was the reason."

He looked down at this for a minute before resuming his story. "Now where was I…? Oh yeah. Well, when we arrive the guide came out to say hi. Turns out not many people actually train there anymore…for obvious reasons." he ground his teeth in anger before resuming, "I really wish now that we had listened to him. There are over a hundred pools there, each with a tragic legend about it. Me and pops though just jumped on top of a pole apiece and started sparring."

He shook his head slowly. "I scored a solid hit on Pops and he fell in a pool. When he jumped out, he was a panda. Scared me half to death, I'll tell ya. I heard the guide shout that Pops had fallen in the 'Shonmaonīchuan' or Spring of the Drowned Panda, that a panda drowned in 2000 years ago and now anyone who fell in the pool tuned into a panda themselves."

"How tragic!" Sōun said, tears waterfalling down his face, causing Ranma to sweatdrop. He looked at the Tendo daughters to see what they made of their father's…ah, outburst.

"Just carry on, he'll shut up eventually." Nabiki advised in a bored tone that told Ranma she'd seen her father like this more than a few times.

"Riiiight." Ranma said slowly, "_Anyway_, after hearing that, I tried to clam Pop down so I wouldn't get knocked into a pool as well."

"Didn't work, did it." Akane stated bluntly.

"Nope. Pops was pissed that I got first blood, so he was determined to get second. He didn't even notice that he had turned into a panda until after he knocked me into another pool." Ranma said bitterly, "That pool was called the 'Nyannīchuan' or Spring of the Drowned Girl, where, obviously, a girl drowned in it about 1500 years ago. Now anyone who falls into it turns into a girl. You've…seen my cursed form."

"Yeah." Nabiki said. "How does the magic -I assume it _is_ magic- work? How does it choose what you look like in your cursed form?"

Ranma shrugged. "The guide said that it made Pop look like what the original panda looked like. For the Pools with human form curses, it works differently. With the Nyannīchuan, it makes you look like what you would look like if you were born a girl. My cursed form is just as well trained as my male form, so it keeps any physical conditioning you've done up until that moment."

"And after?" asked Akane, curious.

"Dunno. It's only been two weeks since it happened." Ranma replied.

"I had heard tales of Jusenkyō, always shrouded in mystery, from my master, but I had never expected the true horror of their truth to be so horrifying." Sōun said seriously.

"Try being on the receiving end of the curse." Ranma retorted, "In my female form my centre of balance feels off, my arms and legs are shorter, I have less physical strength and I keep hitting the…_breasts_….whenever I do a kata. Just about the only plus to the whole thing is my speed goes up. And I still get exhausted from using chi blasts."

"'Chi'? There's no such thing." Nabiki said dismissively.

"Then how did I take down my old man?" Ranma asked. Nabiki glowered at him, but didn't answer.

"You can use Ki at such a young age?" Sōun asked, surprised.

"Wait, didn't he just say Chi?" Akane asked, confused.

"Japanese is Ki, Chinese is Chi." Ranma said with a shrug, "The Japanese mainly use it to increase the strength of their blows in close combat and battle aura, whereas the Chinese use it as energy blasts like I used against Pop, as well as infusing it into weapons to increase the damage they can deal. One thing that both use it for is to detect the blows of enemies."

"How?" Akane asked, confused.

"Depends who you ask." Ranma replied. "The Japanese would say they sense the person's battle aura shifting to different parts of the body, the Chinese say that because Chi, which they call the 'Breath of Life', is generated by anyone who has had the right training, the ability to sense that energy is a part of that. It just takes a lot of training to do."

"I see." Sōun said, thoughtfully, "I assume your female form makes it somewhat more difficult to us Ki?"

"Yep." Ranma replied with a frown, "A person's chi is made out of their spirit, which is split into two parts: Yin and Yang, or female and male. By using chi, you mix these two into a single entity and manipulate it, which is called 'Neijing'. The main problem is that a male has more 'Yang' spirit than 'Yin' spirit, and a female is the other way around."

"So essentially, in your female form you are still trying to manipulate the two halves like you would as a male and it isn't working well." Sōun summed up.

"Uh-huh." Ranma nodded. "I'm taking not enough Yang and too much Yin as a female, because I'm used to having more than enough of Yang and a much smaller amount of Yin."

"Hmm. Indeed." Sōun looked fascinated by the problem, but remembered why Genma had brought Ranma to Nerima in the first place and that Ranma had mentioned 'putting the kibosh on what his father had in mind for him'.

This worried Sōun considerably.

"Ahem. Ranma-kun, you mentioned that you were trying to run away when you heard of the engagement." Sōun said conversationally, "may I ask why? It is a matter of honour that the engagement is fulfilled."

"I can't get married now! I have to go back to China and get rid of my curse!" Ranma retorted, "Besides, I don't like the idea of having my fiancé chosen for me!"

"Exactly how much did Saotome-kun tell you about the engagement?" Sōun asked curiously.

"That I had to do it or else. Then he clubbed me over the head." Ranma replied.

"He always did prefer action to words." Sōun said with a sigh. "Ranma-kun, when your father and I completed our training under our master, we swore, on the honour of our families, that our separate schools would one day be united in marriage."

Ranma stiffened. "Aw hell."

"That was my response as well." Akane muttered.

"You see the problem." Sōun said, "If you or my daughters refuse the engagement, both our families will be severely dishonoured."

"Otou-sama, will not take part in this." Kasumi said gently, but firmly. "I have nothing against Ranma-san, but I have someone that I am interested in."

Sōun sagged slightly, but nodded before turning to his other two daughters. "Nabiki? Akane?"

Nabiki looked Ranma up and down before replying. "I'll say yes."

Akane grimaced. "I don't really like boys, but if it's a matter of honour, I'll do it."

Sōun turned back to Ranma. "The honour of the Tendos is being upheld, Ranma-kun. Will you uphold the honour of the Saotomes?"

"This is emotional blackmail, damn it!" Ranma growled, "Fine! Yes, I'll agree to an engagement, but I have a condition."

"Oh? Which would be?" Sōun asked.

Ranma jabbed a finger at Nabiki and Akane. "Right now, I don't know either of those two from a hole in the wall, so I…look, I just want to get to know them before either one of them chooses me or I choose one of them."

Sōun nodded thoughtfully. "This is an honourable request. Girls, what do you think?"

"Sure." Nabiki shrugged.

"I…yes. It is the proper thing to do." Akane said, privately glad that being definitely engaged to the _boy_ was being put off, at least for a while.

"Then it's settled." Sōun said happily, "Over a period of time, say the next six months, you will get to know one another. At the end of the allotted time, either Ranma-kun chooses one of you girls to marry, or one of you bows out of the engagement, leaving the other to marry Ranma-kun."

Ranma sighed. '_Man, how do I get in these stupid predicaments? Other guys don't have this trouble!_' Aloud, he said, "Well, I guess I'd better untie Pops and wake him up."

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**Next Chapter: **Kuno and the Hentai Horde


	3. Kuno and The Hentai Horde V2

**Edit: 20/03/14: I've toned the Japanese down as requested.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma ½. He would kick my ass if I said I did.**

"Ranma" -Japanese speech

'_Akane_' -Thoughts

_{Grandmother}_ -Chinese

_**Attack**_ -Martial Arts Technique

**Chapter 3: Kuno and the Hentai Horde**

**The Next Day**

**Tendo Dojo**

Ranma, in his male form, went through the standard kata of the Everything Goes School. Every movement was precise, not a millimetre of wasted movement was evident. This was a part of his daily routine for as long as he could remember: get woken up by being ambushed by his father, spar until one was knocked to the ground (usually Genma these days) and then run through the kata he had first been taught at the tender age of five.

'_Can't let my basic martial arts weaken or it'll weaken my chi abilities as well._' Ranma thought as he ran through a slightly more advanced kata.

"Ranma-kun! Breakfast is ready!" Kasumi called from the main house. Ranma immediately stopped his kata and hurried to get some breakfast before his gluttonous father ate the table.

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**After Breakfast, Lounge**

"School? I'll be going to school?" Ranma said, somewhat disbelievingly.

"Well boy, we _are_ going to be staying here for a while." Genma Saotome grunted. He was sitting cross-legged on the tatami floor in his usual karate gi, bandana covering his baldhead and large glasses attached to his nose.

Ranma sat facing him in black trousers and a vest with 'Ranma' emblazoned on the front. Ranma was looking at his father in a decidedly suspicious and untrusting manner.

"The last time I was in school was the first year of Middle School." Ranma pointed out, "And you constantly bemoaned every minute I spent there as 'training time lost learning useless things that distract a man from The Righteous Path of the True Martial Artist' until you knocked me out and dragged me to China, so you'll pardon me for not believing you when you say I'm going to High School."

"Enough, Boy!" Genma barked angrily, "You are going to school and that is final!"

"Who said I was against the idea Pop?" Ranma said with a smirk, "Beats hanging 'round you all day, every day."

"BOY!" Genma roared in fury as he chased his errant son all over the house in a fury. Nabiki regarded the Father-Son duo with a deadpan look on her face. Akane stood next to her, disbelief mixed with disgust at the Saotomes' antics.

"And we have to marry _that_." the martial arts heiress muttered under her breath.

"Only one of us." Nabiki corrected her absentmindedly, "Although if you want to be a mistress…" she trailed off teasingly.

"NABIKI!" Akane shrieked, face turning as red as a cherry. Giggling madly, Nabiki headed off to school, leaving a fuming Akane behind.

Ranma stopped next to Akane, letting his out of control father zoom past him and into the pond in the back of the yard.

"So, to school?" He said, barely breathing hard despite his recent exertions. Akane looked at him for a moment before sighing and gestured at the pigtailed boy to follow her.

As they walked in silence, Akane could feel Ranma's eyes on her. Finally getting tired of it, she glowered over her shoulder at him and said, "What?"

"Are you always this angry?" He asked a small frown on his face as he spoke.

Akane froze. "What do you mean?" she asked sharply.

"I can use chi, remember? When a person feels an especially strong emotion, I can sense it as long as I am aware and they are within a few meters of me." Ranma explained, "And, for as long as I've been around you, you've felt two emotions strongly, continuously and simultaneously: Anger and Fear."

"Wha-" Akane backed off in shock. Ranma studied her for a moment before shrugging.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to," the Saotome heir said casually, "But I'd like to think that you'd give me the benefit of the doubt since I ain't been around for whatever it is that's got ya in such a tizzy."

Akane finally found her voice. "That doesn't matter - you're a boy!" she accused him.

"Most of the time." Ranma said bitterly.

"All you have to do is not get wet!" Akane countered.

{Splash!}

A second after Akane said that, an elderly woman cleaning her path accidentally splashed the Saotome Heir in water from a ladle, treating Akane to the sight of Ranma transforming into a girl.

Amid a cloud of steam, he shrunk in size, his hair turned red, breasts grew from his chest and his voice went up an octave until Ranma was 100% female, with a pissed look on her face.

"You just _had _to tempt fate like that, didn't you?" Ranma said as she glowered at Akane darkly.

"Ha! You should have sensed her behind you, if you're such a good martial artist!" Akane retorted.

"One: she is not a martial artist, so it's hard to sense her anyway, Two, she had no malicious intent and Three, this damn curse attracts water." Ranma shot back, a vein pulsing in her head as she spoke.

Akane was about to retort when the last part struck home. "Wait, what was that last part? The curse _attracts_ water?"

"Yup." Ranma said as she started walking again with a shrug, "The Jusenkyō tour guide told me that the curse instinctively attracts both cold water, which turns me into my cursed form, and hot water, which reverts me to my real body, on a regular basis and at the weirdest times."

Akane sped up until she was walking next to the aquatransexual. "Wait, are you gonna go to school in your cursed form?" she asked.

The redhead shrugged. "Unless you know somewhere where we can get hot water at this time in the morning…?"

"This way." Akane said as she led Ranma along a small street that had a chiropractic clinic at the end, which also had signs advertising acupressure, acupuncture and moxibustion treatments.

"Wait here." she told Ranma as she walked into the clinic.

Ranma sighed and leaned against the sign of the clinic. "What a start to the day…damn curse…damn old man…damn engagement…" she muttered.

Suddenly, with a clatter, a skeletal hand fell on Ranma's shoulder, making her jump to the top of the sign in fright.

"Oh, sorry!" a man holding a display skeleton called to her. Ranma examined the man. He wore glasses similar to her fathers, had brown hair tied in a short ponytail and wore a dark blue martial arts gi, with a pair of sandals on his feet.

'_This guy…it's faint but I can sense his chi…he's a martial artist, and a good one if he can erase both his presence _and _his chi with such skill that I couldn't detect either!_' Ranma thought with narrowed eyes.

"Ranma! Here, I've got…the…water." Akane said as she came around the corner, carrying a large teakettle, and trailed off as she saw the man.

"Akane-chan!" the man greeted her with a smile, making a slight blush bloom on the Tendo Heir's face.

"Oh…Doctor Ono…" Akane mumbled.

"Akane, aren't you going to introduce me?" Ranma said teasingly as she saw the red on Akane's face.

"Baka!" Akane said as she gave Ranma a small glare before relenting. "Ranma, this is Doctor Tofu Ono, the Doctor-on-Call for the Tendo Dojo. Doctor Tofu, this is Ranma Saotome, Heir to the Saotome School of Anything Goes Martial Arts."

"Ah, nice to meet you Ranma-chan." Tofu said with a smile.

"Hold that thought." Ranma replied as she tipped the hot water over her head and reverted to her male form.

Rather than look shocked or stunned, Tofu merely said a single word. "Jusenkyō!"

"You know about it?" Ranma said, surprised.

"A friend of mine fell in the Spring of the Drowned Snake a while back." Tofu explained, "So, Spring of the Drowned Girl?"

"Unfortunately, yes." Ranma sighed.

"Ranma, we've got to get to school!" Akane said, realising the time, "Sorry Doctor Tofu but we're cutting it close."

"No problem, Akane." Tofu said cheerfully, "Ranma-kun, come on by for a visit if you need advice, alright?"

Ranma looked at him before nodding. "Sure." he replied before sprinting off with Akane.

**RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR**

**Near the Front Gate of Furinkan High School**

"That Tofu guy's a martial arts master, ain the?" Ranma asked as he ran atop a fence.

"Uh...yes, he is. How'd you know?" Akane asked surprised.

"He snuck up on me, completely erasing his presence and his chi. Not many people can do either separately and only a master could do both at the same time." Ranma replied.

"He is good, isn't he?" Akane said with a small smile, "He's been fixing my injuries ever since I was a little girl."

Ranma leapt down to run next to her. "Huh. Y'know, you never felt angry around him. No anger, no fear. Why is that?"

Akane's face darkened. "Because he isn't a _boy_, who does to me what _these_ morons do!" she yelled and pointed ahead of them at the school gate.

Ranma looked and saw an unusual sight. Boys were charging forward at them, all shouting something along the lines of 'Akane Tendo's here!' All of them were wearing the uniform of a sports club. Ranma saw boxing, karate, kendo, football, rugby and soccer amongst the horde.

"Stand back; I can handle these jerks easily!" Akane snarled and charged the horde of boys. Ranma leapt away to the wall as he did actually wish to see how well she was trained.

The horde of boys, as far as Ranma could tell, was a mixed bunch varying between barely trained and somewhat decent. None of them was a match for Akane who punched, kicked and bludgeoned with her bag with practiced ease. Clearly, she had been fighting against these odds for some time and had gotten very good at dealing with them.

Ranma's sharp eyes, however, picked up quite a bit of useless movement, overpowered punches and bad stances. Ranma concluded that she had either not trained enough or her father had refused to train her for some unfathomable reason.

In short order, the horde of boys were lying in twitching semi-conscious heaps on the ground, with Akane glaring down at them, panting slightly.

"Really!" she huffed, "_Every single day_! You'd think they'd take a hint by now!"

"Truly a boorish lot." agreed a voice that sounded pompous. From behind a nearby tree, a tall boy with black hair strode out into the open. He wore a white kendougi (Kendo-uniform), black hakama and was, bizarrely, barefoot. He carried a bokken (wooden sword) in one hand and a freshly cut red rose his mouth.

Akane had an exasperated look on her face as she replied in a deadpan voice, "Oh, Kuno-sempai. Good Morning."

The newly named Kuno removed the rose from his mouth and gently threw it at Akane, who caught it out of pure reflex.

"And now, Akane Tendo, you shall lose to me-" he said as he assumed the standard kendo stance, "-so that I might date you!"

"You're popular, ain't ya?" Ranma said as he jumped down next to her.

"Shut _up_!" Akane said irritably.

"You!" Kuno pointed his bokken at Ranma, "Who are you to act do familiar with the beauteous and fair Akane Tendo?"

"I'm-" Ranma began to say before Kuno loudly interrupted him.

"Ah, but is it not the custom to give one's name before asking for another's?" he asked rhetorically as a vein pulsed on Ranma's head, "Fine! I shall give my own name!"

Assuming a suitably dramatic pose with his sword raised, he spoke, "I…am the captain of the kendo club, the undefeated rising star of the kendo world. My peers call me…The Blue Thunder of Furinkan High!"

Thunder boomed in the background.

Face deadpan, Ranma turned to Akane. "Do people really call him that or is he just talking out of his ass?" he asked in a monotone.

Akane's face was twitching at Kuno's idiocy. "The latter. Most _definitely_ the latter." she replied in an equally emotionless tone.

"I have given my name, villain, so speak or flee!" Kuno commanded.

"Fine already!" Ranma shouted. He had had enough of this poser!

"My name is Ranma Saotome, Heir to the Saotome School of Martial Arts. And the reason I am so 'familiar' with Akane is because our fathers are old friends and I'm stayin' there temporarily." Ranma said as he glared at Kuno.

"WHAT? How _dare_ you reside under the same roof as Akane?" Kuno shouted as he charged Ranma with his bokken held high.

'_Idiot. He's broadcasting his move so anyone with martial arts training could read his move with plenty of time to spare. And he has the nerve to call himself a '_rising star_'. Hah!_' Ranma thought as he dodged the attack that he had correctly read as a _men_ (straight cut). He flipped over Kuno and kicked the kendoist into the wall. He impacted with a satisfying [crack] of stone and concrete and flopped to the ground, unconscious.

Akane stared at Ranma, her eyes wide. He had sent Kuno crashing into the wall with barely any effort whatsoever, when she usually had to fight hard for at least five minutes to sent him packing.

'_Once he finds out about the challenge that idiot set, he'll challenge me and beat me._' Akane thought with a paling face, '_I'm no match for him, even I can see that, so once he wins, he'll…_' Visions of Ranma ravaging her body in both his male and female forms zipped through her mind, making her feel very hot and bothered.

She shook her head violently to dismiss the images. '_What am I thinking?! I hate boys and I don't bat for the other team either! I must be more stressed than I thought!_'

"Oi, Akane." Ranma said standing next to her suddenly, "We're going to be late if you stand around staring into space like that."

"Ahh!" Akane yelped in shock, "Don't sneak up on me, Ranma-no-baka!"

"Well, soorrryy for stopping to get you out of your daydreams." Ranma said sarcastically as he turned away and walked off towards the school.

"Wait up! You need to register at the main office!" Akane called as she chased him.

From a window on the second floor, Nabiki, who had witnessed everything, grinned an evil smile.

'_Ranma is going to be good for my little sister, myself and my business._' she thought as she counted the money she had raked in from this mornings profits.

With a crash of thunder and lightning, the sky opened up and it began to rain.

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**Next Chapter: Kuno and His Big Mouth**

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**Techniques Lexicon**

Men - Straight Down Head Cut

_One of the nine basic cuts in Japanese Kenjutsu, this is one of the two hardest to perform in a tournament and thus is worth more points than most of the others._


	4. Kuno and His Big Mouth

**Disclaimer: Ranma ½ ain't mine. If you believe that it is, I have a small planet near Pluto to sell you…**

"Ranma" -Japanese speech

'_Akane_' -Thoughts

_{Grandmother}_ -Chinese

_**Attack**_ -Martial Arts Technique

**Chapter 4: Kuno and His Big Mouth**

Despite the interference of Kuno, Ranma and Akane actually made it to class on time. The teacher made Ranma give the rest of the class a self-introduction.

"Umm…I'm Ranma Saotome. This is the first time I've been to school in a while, so I'll need some time to catch up. As any of you who were watching outside just now can tell, I'm a martial artist and I practice the Saotome School of Anything Goes. Nice to meet you all." He said before sitting down.

Looking out the window, Ranma saw that the idiot Kuno was gone from his last position at the foot of the wall. Whether it was to hospital or just to class, Ranma really couldn't care less as long as the fool was away from him. Idiots like Kuno really irritated Ranma because they never knew when to shut up or give up.

THUD, THUD, THUD, THUD, THUD, THUD!

A sudden noise that sounded like rapidly closing running alerted Ranma that something was happening. Unfortunately, it seemed to be coming closer to his classroom.

"RANMA SAOTOME!" A voice roared as the door slammed open to reveal Kuno, still in his kendougi, his bokken, which had miraculously survived impact with the wall intact, tied to his back with string and carrying, oddly enough, two buckets of water.

"Yo." he replied flippantly, "Didn't I already beat your ass once today?"

"Ha!" scoffed Kuno, "I, the Blue Thunder of Furinkan High, lose to the likes of you? Preposterous!" Thunder boomed in the background as he spoke.

"Blue Thunder? More like Blue _Grandma_." retorted Ranma, "I've seen old ladies move faster than you did out there."

"Silence, fool!" Kuno barked, "Nabiki Tendo has told me of your reason for infesting the home of the fair Akane Tendo!"

"_Infesting_…?" Ranma said with a twitching eyebrow. Kuno paid him no mind.

"You seek to sink your claws into one of the Tendo sisters in a foul engagement, do you not fiend!?" Kuno accused, which caused uproar from the class.

"Engagement?!" The boys cried in outrage.

"Akane, we thought you hated men? Why the sudden 360?" demanded the girls.

"It's something our parents decided!" Akane protested vehemently, "Besides, it's not just me that's in the line-up! Nabiki could be the one who marries him!"

"The Ice Queen?" Scoffed a girl, "Yeah right!"

"It's you for sure Akane!" a random boy said indignantly.

"Foul being that besmirches the Tendo Household! Taste Steel!" Kuno roared as he threw the two full buckets of water at Ranma.

"Yikes!" Ranma dodged the water with little to spare, making a mental note to get back at Nabiki for this. The water soaked several of his classmates, much to their irritation.

Kuno, scowling, drew his bokken and charged at Ranma with a wordless cry of anger.

"_**Aoraigeki! (Blue Thunder Strikes!)**_ Atatatatatatatatatata!" The kendoist unleashed a flurry of lightning fast blows that blurred from sight. Akane gaped in shock at this as she had never seen this move before.

Ranma dodged all of them with relative ease and noted the shattering of the windows behind him with slight concern.

'_He's thrusting his sword with such speed and strength that each strike is condensing the air in front of it and launching it forward as a…pressure bullet of sorts. He was holding back on me before. He's obviously stronger than Akane, no questions. Still not close to my level though._' Ranma thought with a smirk.

He leapt over the kendoist once again and ran from the classroom. No point getting non-martial artists involved.

"Cease your cowardly flight, knave!" Kuno yelled as he gave pursuit of the pigtailed martial artist. Most of the class followed them, except from Akane who had sat in her seat, shocked.

'_I…I'm in trouble. Kuno is stronger than me. There's no way I could defend against that attack if he used it against me!_' Akane thought in a panic, '_He could have defeated me any time he wanted if he used that! So why has he let me knock him into next week all this time? Is he a masochist? No, that can't be it…oh no, don't tell me he wanted me to 'bond through mutual battle'!_'

Akane looked sick at the thought. Regardless of the reason he was letting her win, she _had_ to get stronger. No _way_ was she going to be forced to date Kuno!

However…who could train her? Her father did train her…once a week…if he felt like it…_most_ of the time. No, she needed more training than she was getting at the moment. Dr Tofu? No, every time she got close to him alone, Kasumi would 'spontaneously' come and say hello, making him go gaga as he always did around her…stupid territorial sister.

Who else was there? Mr Saotome? She dismissed him immediately. The condescending way her called her a little girl playing martial artist last night rubbed her the wrong way. That only left…

…Ranma. Akane brightened immediately. Ranma was unquestionably stronger than Kuno. Heck, he might be stronger than her father, what with that Kamehameha knock-off he used. Question was how to ask him?

Akane sat deep in thought as time ticked on.

**RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR**

**Meanwhile, with Ranma…**

"Have at you!" Kuno shouted as he unleashed another _**Aoraigeki**_ barrage at him, which he dodged yet again.

'_This guy…has no self control._' Ranma thought as yet another slew of windows were destroyed. He just hoped that the school had good insurance, 'cause Ranma Saotome ain't paying for no windows.

"Kuno, do you have a grudge against glass or something?" he shouted at the attacking kendoist.

"Indeed I do not!" refuted Kuno, "Rather, why do you not cease dodging so that I may hit you?"

Ranma looked at him with a deadpan face. "What kind of _idiot_ are you?" he asked, "No-one is stupid enough to do that when getting attacked by a sword, wooden or not."

"Accept your fate, cowardly fool!" Kuno roared as he charged yet again. Ranma was by now tired of his opponent's only skilled attack and decided to end it. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a filled swimming pool just within his jumping range and grinned.

From Kuno's (Twisted) perspective, the grin was a mocking sneer, so the Kendoist bellowed in rage and unleashed his best (and only) special attack once again.

Ranma did indeed dodge these blows, but moved back slowly as he did so, step by step, until Kuno was level with the target window. Then he made his move.

A watching student later swore Ranma was an esper who could use teleportation, as one second he was dodging Kuno's attacks, the next he was executing a jujutsu throwing technique to throw Kuno through the conveniently open window. The student rushed to the window, expecting the kendo captain to be a pancake on the ground.

What they saw was Kuno belly flop into the pool, cursing and spluttering with pain and humiliation. Ranma walked off back to the classroom jauntily, smirking at the defeat of his foe (again).

The yell, "I WILL HAVE MY REVENGE, SAOTOME!" could be heard across the school.

**RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR**

**Timeskip - After School**

**School Gate**

"Nabiki." Ranma greeted the elder Tendo in a cool voice. He and Akane had waited for her at the school gates at Ranma's insistence.

"Saotome." Nabiki returned breezily as she walked past him. Ranma quickly followed her, Akane at his heels.

"Care to explain why the kendo idiot said that you spilled the beans about the possible engagements?" Ranma asked in a faux-light manner.

"Because he paid me." Nabiki replied, "I'm known as the 'Ice Queen of Furinkan High', a ruthless information broker who sells information on everyone and everything to the highest bidder. Kuno-baby happens to be one of my best customers and for a good reason: he's both loaded _and_ a complete and utter moron, rather than just one of the two."

Ranma sweatdropped at the frank explanation. "And…you see absolutely nothing wrong with selling people out like that?" he asked for clarification.

"I can't afford to." Nabiki replied, "Daddy stopped teaching years ago when our mother died, so I'm the main source of income for the family, from my various investments that I've made. If I am not ruthless and heartless in my dealings, we will go under, even more so now that your father and you are staying with us."

"Stupid old man, always causing trouble for other people…" Ranma muttered.

"Ranma, you really don't like your father, do you?" Akane half asked, half stated.

Ranma snorted. "He's a sexist, bigoted, selfish, venal pig, who wouldn't hesitate to make my life hell to make his own was comfortable and has done so countless times before." Ranma said, disgust in his voice.

"Like what?" Nabiki asked.

"Like…ummmm…three years ago, just for a random example, he stole a _lot_ of money from the Yakuza and threw me at the group that was chasing him, about ten guys armed with bokken and tantō's. I had to beat them unconscious before I could get away." Ranma said, his face perfectly serious.

Akane was, for the umpteenth time that day, stunned. What kind of father would throw his son at armed Yakuza at age 13?

"What did he say when you caught up with him?" she asked softly.

"What he always says. '_Boy, stop acting like a weak girl! A Martial Artist's life is fraught with peril!_'" Ranma replied with another snort.

The Tendo Heiress growled at this. "Where does he get off thinking woman are weaker than men?" she hissed.

Ranma shrugged. "Pops may be a lousy person, but he _is_ a good martial artist. Sneaky and underhanded too. I doubt he has ever met someone he couldn't beat by means fair or foul, male or female, strong or weak. "

The Saotome Heir frowned in thought. "It also suits his own world view. Because he's a man, to his own mind, he is therefore superior to any female, so even if one does miraculously beat him, he can still say that he's better than they are, because he's a man. It also lets him feed his arrogance and inflated ego."

The two Tendo sisters looked at Ranma with surprise at the frank dissection of his father's motives and opinions.

"Hasn't he tried to make your opinion of girls like his?" Akane asked suspiciously.

Ranma gave a small bitter laugh. "Of course he did. It even took hold, up until about two years ago."

"When you first entered China." Nabiki realised, "But why did your outlook change?"

"That's a story for another day." Ranma said quelling before he turned to Akane. "Do you mind if I ask you something?"

Akane's heart started to beat faster. "Okay…" she replied slowly.

"Nabiki here said that your old man stopped teaching when your mother died. Did that include you?" Ranma asked intently.

"…Yes." Akane admitted, "All of his students left in disgust as he became so…emotional…after Okaa-san passing. He gradually taught me less and less until all he does now is teach me for one day a week, and that is only if he feels like it."

"Huh." Ranma said thoughtfully, "That actually makes sense, given what I've seen of your dad. And the way you fought this morning."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Akane asked, confused.

"You put too much power behind your punches, your form is sloppy and doesn't take into account your growth, plus you have _far_ too much useless movement and unnecessary flourishes as you fight." Ranma said absently, "Given that you have had hardly any instruction for, what? Seven years, give or take? It means you have talent if you are as strong as you are with only a single day a week."

Akane had been about to belt him when he listed all her deficiencies, but blushed as he gave her a backhanded complement about her natural talent.

'_Well at least that proves he is different from his father._' Akane thought.

"Yeah…Ranma, about that…How strong is Kuno compared to me?" she asked.

"He's far stronger than you. Dunno if he's a masochist or what, but he's been letting you win however many times you fought him." Ranma said immediately.

Akane slumped over at his words. "As I thought…," she bemoaned.

Nabiki looked on in confusion. "Wait, what am I missing here?"

As they walked, Ranma brought Nabiki up to date on what her little transaction had wrought, with Akane adding her own deductions as well. To say the elder Tendo was surprised was an understatement.

Nabiki had never learnt much beyond the basic kata of Anything Goes before she decided that while martial arts was alright, it wasn't something she wanted to do for a living and had moved on. She had thought her sister and Kuno were about equal in terms of skill, so there was no harm in stringing Kuno along.

However, this revelation changed the game significantly. If Kuno was stronger than Akane, and by the degree Ranma said he was, she would lose to him at the kendo captain's whim once he eventually tired of being sent flying via Air Akane.

Something had to be done.

"One thing here is still puzzling me." Ranma commented, "Why is Akane attacked by half the guys at school every morning?"

Akane sighed wearily. "It was Kuno's doing." she said miserably, "He asked be out on the first day of High School. He said he had been 'watching my progress with intense scrutiny' for some time and had decided I was worthy to date him. I told him no, of course."

"Kuno-baby lives in a world of his own." Commented Nabiki in an offhanded manner, "Things like a girl saying 'no' to him do _not_ happen there."

"Later, at the assembly, he told the entire school that if anyone wanted to date me, they had to beat me in a fight first." Akane continued heavily, "Ever since, I've had to beat up the entire male population _every single day_, until the only ones who try anymore are the ones from the sports and martial arts clubs. It just pisses me off that no one has the sense to ask me whether I even agreed with Kuno's stupid plan!"

"I guess that explains the anger and fear you feel around any guy but your dad and Dr Tofu." Ranma said quietly, "So, what do you plan to do?"

"I…"Akane said hesitantly, "I need to get stronger. I do not want to be strong-armed into dating Kuno, by peer pressure or physically. But…I don't know whom to turn to. Daddy wont teach me more than he already is, and from what you've said about _your_ father makes me glad I never considered him as a teacher."

"Yeah…that would be bad." Ranma said dryly, "What about Dr Tofu? He's a Master of Martial Arts."

"Uh-uh, not possible." Nabiki said, "Kasumi is _very_ territorial about Tofu. Whenever Akane goes near him alone, she always finds an excuse to bring over leftovers or return a book."

"Why?" asked Ranma, perplexed.

"I…have a small crush on Doctor Tofu." Akane admitted, "But he likes Kasumi, so I know I'm going to have to grow out of it sooner or later."

"How can you tell?" Ranma asked.

"Trust me, it's obvious. You'll know it when you see it." Nabiki said dryly.

"Uh-huh, sure." Ranma said absently. Then he sighed.

"Akane, would you like me to tech you a couple of things?" He offered.

Nabiki and Akane looked taken aback. "Y-You'd do that?" Akane asked, surprise filling her voice.

"Sure. If I correct your forms, you'll improve quite a bit. Ditto for getting rid of unnecessary movements and flourishes, as well as teaching you to only use just enough power in one punch to get the job done." Ranma said as the Tendo home came into sight, "If we correct your basic mistakes, you'll be surprised how much easier things will be."

"Ummm….I…accept then." Akane said, "Thanks for this."

"Meh. No problem." Ranma said with a shrug, "What we have to do before that is critical though."

"What do we have to do?" Akane asked worriedly.

"Drain you of all that anger-induced chi." Ranma stated implacably, "Otherwise you'll _never_ become a good martial artist."

The two sisters stared at Ranma for a moment. "Say what?!" Akane said incredulously.

"Let's get your dad and Kasumi together before we start this. I don't wanna have to say this more than once." Ranma replied as he walked through the front door. Akane and Nabiki exchanged looks before entering after him.

What is the boy talking about?

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**Next Chapter: Rage! Akane's Anger!**

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**Techniques Lexicon**

_**Aoraigeki **_- Blue Thunder Strikes

_Kuno's basic 'special' attack. He unleashes a rapid series of stabs with his bokken at such a speed that the displaced air is shot forward like an air bullet. The combination of strikes and pressure bullets is strong enough to rend concrete asunder._


	5. Rage! Akane's Anger! V2

**Authors Note: Yo. Hope this chapter satisfies those of you looking for longer chapters.**

**About Genma, should I bash him or not? I dislike the git and this chapter makes him look stupid, but should I continue to do so?**

**In the harem now are the three Fiancé's (Ukyo, Akane and Shampoo), but I am debating adding more. I will poll it. Go to my profile for the choices.**

**Moreover, no, Harem Lover 26, Cologne is not on the list. Nor is that irritating Kodachi Kuno. Or 'Saint' Kasumi.**

**Edit:20/03/14: I made an error in Ranma's explanation, which has now been corrected. **

**Disclaimer: Can Ryoga find his way out of a telephone booth? No? Then I don't own Ranma ½.**

"Ranma" -Japanese speech

'_Akane_' -Thoughts

_{Grandmother}_ -Chinese

_**Attack**_ -Martial Arts Technique

**Chapter 5: Rage! Akane's Anger!**

Once the Tendo family and Genma was once again gathered in the living room, Ranma began to speak.

"Mr Tendo, I have offered to train Akane in Anything Goes and she has accepted-" Ranma began, only to be interrupted by his father.

"Foolish Boy!" Genma barked, "She is your fiancé, not a student of martial arts! It's your job to protect her, not pander to her selfish whims!"

"Excuse me?!" Akane growled as she glared at the man. Ranma put a hand on her shoulder and whispered something to her that the rest of the people in the room couldn't hear. Reluctantly, Akane settled back in her seat, but continued to glare at Genma.

"Saotome-kun, I would appreciate it if you did not insult my daughter." The Tendo Patriarch said calmly, but with a steely look that brooked no argument. Genma shut up and glared at Ranma.

"Thanks Mr Tendo." Ranma said, inclining his head.

"Just call me Sōun, Ranma-kun." The older Martial Artist replied.

"Getting back to what I was saying. She has accepted, but something must be done before I can train her." Ranma said.

"You mentioned that outside." Nabiki said with narrowed eyes, "Something about draining her anger."

"Her anger-induced chi." Ranma corrected her. Sōun and Genma's eyes widened.

"Ranma-kun, are you saying that Akane…can use chi?" Sōun asked in disbelief.

"Entirely subconsciously at that." Ranma confirmed, "From what I have gathered, she is largely self-taught."

"I am her teacher." Sōun replied, offended.

"Once a week, _if_ you feel like it, is _not_ teaching." Ranma said firmly, "And even that once a week is not well taught at that. You haven't adjusted her stance for her growth, taught her to hold back her punches and kicks or stopped her from making unnecessary movements."

The two males stared each other down until Sōun sighed and looked away. "I just…without Kimiko…I can't concentrate on the Art as well as I used to. Besides, Akane is in no danger. She is far stronger than anyone in Tokyo, excluding me, Saotome-kun and you, Ranma-kun." he said softly.

Ranma sighed. "Unfortunately, that is not the case. An upperclassman at Furinkan, Kuno, is stronger than Akane. His speed is such that he can shatter concrete with his bokken."

"Oh my!" said Kasumi.

"Truly?" asked Sōun in a concerned voice.

"Yep. Worse, he's issued a school-wide proclamation that if anyone wants to date Akane; they have to defeat her in a fight." Ranma said bluntly.

The Tendo Patriarch looked at Akane in concern. She stopped glaring at Genma to smile at him reassuringly. "Don't worry Daddy. I'm stronger than every boy at Furinkan is. Except from Kuno and Ranma." She added the qualifier begrudgingly.

"For whatever reason, Kuno has been holding back in his fights with Akane and letting her win." Ranma said, "I dunno if he gets his jollies up from getting beaten up or what, but both Akane and I think that once he's tired of getting beaten by her, he'll defeat her and force her to abide by his stupid declaration."

"He would _dare_…!" Sōun snarled as he unleashed part of his Battle Aura for the first time since his wife died.

Ranma sat up straight with his eyes wide. "A Battle Aura…" he breathed.

The three Tendo females shrank back from their father. The Aura he was emitting was making it hard to breathe. Ranma noticed this and moved over to Sōun.

"Sōun! Calm down! You're scaring your daughters!" Ranma said urgently, which caused the Tendo Patriarch to calm down almost immediately.

"What _was_ that?" Akane asked.

"The ultimate chi technique; Battle Aura." Ranma replied, "There are tiers in chi manipulation. The lowest tier is one that most Martial Artists attain with enough practice; body reinforcement, such as when you punch through concrete blocks Akane."

"Isn't that just the proper application of strength to the weakest point of the brick, combined with physical conditioning?" Akane asked.

"Some of it is." Ranma replied, "But smashing a solid concrete brick with a single blow should still damage your hand by some degree as well. Chi reinforcement adds to the physical conditioning and means that unless you punch something like petrified wood or six-inch thick metal; you won't damage the bone and muscles in your hand."

"Huh, who knew." Nabiki commented, now fully recovered, "What are the next tiers?"

"The next tier is the logical step, adding chi to your attacks to increase the damage dealt with your blows. This is what Akane has been doing when fighting the boys at school, in order to put them down with a single blow each." Ranma said, "It's odd though. Usually, someone has to guide the Martial Artist in question into concluding that it is even possible. I think I know how she did it, but I'll wait a bit before explaining."

"Boy! Stop dancing around and tell us!" Genma demanded.

"The problem isn't simple and needs a full explanation before it can be solved." Ranma replied serenely, making Genma swell with barely controlled anger.

"So the tier above that?" Akane asked, trying to stop the bald martial artist from erupting like a volcano.

"The Third Tier is linking chi with an emotion and using it as an attack." Ranma said, "A good example is my _**Mōko Takabisha**_. By creating chi influenced by pride or self-confidence, I can fire it as a chi blast at my opponent. The original technique is called the _**Shishi **__**Hōkōdan**__** (Lion's Roar)**_, which uses despair as a source of energy."

"Despair? That doesn't sound too healthy." Nabiki commented.

"It's a mining technique." Ranma replied with a shrug, "From what I hear, it's easy to get depressed under the earth."

"Just how many tiers are there?" Akane asked.

"Technically, there are only four." Ranma said, "But the last requires a considerable amount of training. I am a third of the way through it myself."

"When did you start?" Sōun asked curiously.

"Half a year ago. I would be further along, but the old man keeps interrupting my training." Ranma replied as he jerked a thumb at Genma, who was red in the face from anger.

"You are not ready to master that technique, Boy!" Genma growled.

"Translation: 'I didn't master it until my late twenties and I can only hold it for 30 seconds, so I can't let my son surpass me'." Ranma said in a bored voice.

"Boy! I will not have you disrespecting me!" Genma shouted.

"Translation: 'I have been beaten by my son too many times recently and let him think he's more powerful than me. I must reassert dominance over him before he becomes too independent!'" Ranma said lazily.

"BOY!" Genma yelled as he charged Ranma. The pigtailed martial artist sighed and then his hand blurred, striking five points on Genma's body.

"_**Go-**__**Ten-Zō (Five-Point-Statue)**_" Ranma said calmly as the body of his father froze where he stood.

"What did you _do_?" Akane breathed in shock. He had just defeated an accredited master with a _single_ technique.

"I hit five shiatsu points across his body." Ranma replied calmly as he manhandled Genma to lean against the wall, "He won't be able to move other than to breathe and blink for about half an hour. Now where was I?"

"The last tier." Nabiki reminded him.

"Ah yes. The last tier is the Battle Aura. At its peak, it creates, _just_ from your chi aura, an enlarged version of you _around_ yourself, sort of like one of those old Godzilla costumes only much, much deadlier." Ranma said solemnly, "Only masters have ever created full combat capable Battle Auras. Well, and my old man but 30 seconds is hardly worth it, so I dunno if he counts."

"I myself cannot fully utilise the Battle Aura." Sōun admitted, "Nor can I utilise my emotions as a weapon. I'm afraid my talents are more to the physical than chi-related."

"Meh. Chi is just one part of the Art, Sōun." Ranma said, "Just because you can't use it to it's fullest potential doesn't mean you aren't a master. Look at my old man. He can barely use a true Battle Aura and he can't use chi blasts worth squat."

"True." The Tendo Patriarch said with a sigh, "Now that you have explained all this, I trust you are going to explain to us why Akane using chi is a cause for concern?"

"It isn't the fact that she can use it, it's the way she uses it and the way it manifested that is the problem." Ranma retorted.

"Huh?" Akane was nonplussed.

"A few questions. When did you start taking the…Hentai Horde, for lack of a better term, out with relative ease?" Ranma asked.

Akane giggled slightly at the name. "Just after the second fight, I think." She replied, "They almost overwhelmed me when something went…click…and suddenly I dropped them like flies."

Ranma massaged his forehead. "I wish I had been wrong about my suspicions." he muttered before he raised his voice again, "And, what were you feeling at that point?"

Akane was silent for a moment. "I was afraid. Afraid and angry." She said finally.

"Oh boy." Said Ranma with a grimace.

"What? Fear and anger aren't that different from the despair that the…what was it again? Ah yes, the _**Shishi **__**Hōkōdan**_. That it uses." Nabiki said with a frown.

"That isn't true actually." Ranma said softly, "In small bursts, using despair as a source for a chi blast bleeds off some of it and actually helps relieve it for a while. Anger and fear on the other hand grow as they are used, fear even feeds anger, making it more powerful. In addition, they resonate and negatively affect the user, making the user's perceptions skewed and making it harder to control their temper."

"A vicious circle." Nabiki whispered in horror.

"Exactly. The more Akane is angry and afraid, the more powerful her attacks become. The more anger/fear chi she uses, the more paranoid and angry she will become. Rinse and repeat." Ranma said seriously.

The horrified expressions on the faces of the Tendo family showed exactly how seriously they took his words.

Akane finally broke the silence in a quivering voice. "Y-You said there is something you can do to help me?" she asked almost desperately.

Ranma nodded slowly. "I can do for you what my guru did for Me." he replied.

Genma managed to make a snarling noise even though he was entirely paralyzed. Ranma smirked at him before returning his gaze to the Tendo family.

"As you know, the old man dragged me to China a full year ahead of schedule. We…separated for most of that first year and I met my guru. She is of Indo-Chinese descent and prefers her Indian roots to her Chinese ones, despite living on the outskirts of Hong Kong." Ranma said with a fond smile.

"And so you call her guru, rather than sensei, shisho or shihan." Sōun concluded.

Ranma nodded. "Thanks to my old man, I was a regular jerk. Slightly sexist, arrogant and with virtually no knowledge of male/female interactions; exactly as Pop wanted. My guru sorted that out fairly quickly."

"How? And what does this have to do with helping my sister?!" Nabiki hissed.

"Be patient Nabiki. I think he's about to get to the point in a moment." Sōun said calmly. A forced calm, as anyone seeing his eyes would testify.

"She sorted it by clearing my chakras of emotional muck." Ranma said coolly.

There were question marks above the heads of all the Tendos.

"'That is why you need to be patient. Otherwise you get raw data without a reference to turn it into useful information.'" Ranma quoted, "My guru said that to me all the time. Said my impatience was my own worst enemy."

Sōun nodded approvingly. "A valuable lesson." he said approvingly.

"To start at the beginning, in both China and India, it is believed that there are concentrated 'pools' of chi in the human body, seven of them. In China, they are divided into three 'cauldrons', three 'gates' and an 'Inner Eye'. The Indian version is simpler so I'll use that. Seven chakras, spread throughout the body, each focussed on a concept." Ranma said.

"These facets or aspects are: Survival, Pleasure, Willpower, Love, Truth, Insight and Cosmic Energy. Each of these 'pools' of chi energy flow through the body and into a person's chi paths, which are a lot like blood vessels." Ranma continued, "As guru put it, 'Life is messy and the pools get blocked by emotional muck.' When this happens, it is always with a specific, corresponding emotion. In the same order: Fear, Guilt, Shame, Grief, Self-Deception, Illusion and Earthly Attachments."

"Wait, wait, wait." Nabiki interrupted, "Self-Deception, Illusion and Earthly Attachments aren't emotions!"

"Nevertheless, they block the chi pools and stop the chi from flowing properly." Ranma retorted, "Anyway in Akane's case, I think I know just which 'pools' to clear in order to undercut the reasons for her anger, allowing me to release it without either harming her, her chi or myself."

"Why not just clear her of the whole lot?" Nabiki said pointedly.

"Mainly, because she only needs the three 'cleaned'." Ranma replied, "The second reason is that if the seventh 'pool' is cleaned, what do you think she will lose? What is the main focus of her Earthly Attachments?"

"Kami! My family…" Akane said in horror, making her sisters and father gasp in sudden realisation.

"Exactly. She would lose the love and attachment to you all that binds her here." Ranma said softly.

"Right." Sōun said firmly, "So, no cleaning _that_ particular 'pool' then."

"Of course." Ranma nodded. "I never wished to do so in the first place."

"Did your guru clean all seven of your 'pools'?" Kasumi asked, "Is that why you are so disrespectful to your father?"

Ranma scowled. What was _with_ this girl and filial piety? "No. I had three cleaned; Survival, Truth and Willpower."

"Fear? You were afraid of something?" Nabiki questioned.

"Several things. It was…" Ranma searched for a word, "_Painful_. In the extreme."

"Physically?" asked Akane with a gulp.

"Emotionally." corrected Ranma, "You're forced to confront a vision of what you fear above all else and let the emotion of fear for that scenario/thing/person… just _flow_ away. It is still draining physically though."

"Did you lose all of your fears, or just your strongest fear?" probed Nabiki.

"Guru was forced to clean that one _twice_ because of the amount of emotional muck that was in it." Ranma replied while glaring at Genma angrily.

"How do you go about doing it?" Akane asked curiously.

"Each chakra is located in a different part of the body. The person getting 'cleaned' meditates and the one doing the 'cleaning' makes physical contact with the body part in question and stimulates it with their chi, forcing a vision of the 'blockage' to invade the meditation." Ranma explained, "It's always a vision of the strongest… emotional muck…that is blocking the chakra. For my fear, it was first my Ailurophobia and then being seen as weak."

"Wait, you were afraid of _cats_?" Akane asked incredulously.

"How I got that little fear is a story for another day, but yes. They terrified me until I was a blubbering wreck." Ranma replied shortly.

"Interesting…" Sōun said, "The process is irreversible?"

"More emotional muck can accumulate as life goes on, but yes, what is taken out cannot be returned."

"Where...will you have to touch me in order to clear my chakras?" Akane asked bracingly, "Actually, which chakras will you clean in the first place?"

"For you, Survival, Self-Deception and Insight, located at the base of the spine, throat and third eye point respectively." Ranma replied.

"So Fear, Illusion and Self-Deception will be removed from Akane?" Nabiki clarified. When Ranma nodded, she continued, "Is there any possible risk to Akane by doing this?"

Ranma immediately shook his head. "No. I was taught how to do this by my guru. Unless we are disturbed during the process, Akane will merely sleep for a day or so afterwards."

"It's a school day!" protested Kasumi, earning her an incredulous look from Ranma.

"Which is more important, Kasumi-san? A single day of school or the sanity of your youngest sister?" Ranma asked patiently.

"Can it not wait until the weekend?" Sōun asked.

"I would advise against it." Ranma replied immediately, "The more anger and fear that builds up, the more painful it will be for Akane."

Sōun nodded as if he expected such an answer. "Kasumi, I'm afraid that I'm overruling you on this occasion." he told his eldest daughter.

"But Otou-sama!" Kasumi protested.

"Kasumi, while her schoolwork is important, _this_ matter exceeds that importance by several _orders_ of magnitude." Sōun said severely, "Besides, a single day off of school will do her no harm. I will speak to the Vice Principal myself."

Kasumi looked down dejectedly. Nabiki was astonished. Kasumi usually won any debate with anybody. For Kasumi to cave so easily suggested that part of her knew how vital this process was.

"Akane should eat before we begin." Ranma said, "She has to feel relaxed as well, so running through some kata after dinner would be an idea. I'll also need some rope."

"Why do you need _rope_ of all things?" Akane asked.

"To bind your arms and legs." Ranma replied, "When I confronted my fear the first time, I tried to fight back instinctively and wrecked the place. This is not for your safety, but the safety of your family."

"I'd never hurt my family!" Akane declared indignantly.

"If my guess at what you fear is correct, you would be fighting -and losing- against a horde of boys, Akane." Ranma said, "What is your instinctive reaction to that?"

A look of fear and revulsion passed across Akane's face and she clenched her fists.

"Exactly my point, Akane." Ranma said as he looked pointedly at her fists, "You are a true Martial Artist in that, given the choice between fight or flight, you almost always choose to fight. In this case though, it is something of a hindrance."

"Hence the rope?" Akane asked with a sigh.

"Hence the rope." Ranma said firmly.

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**After Dinner**

**Tendo Dojo**

Akane, clad in her gi, sat on the floor of the dojo in the seiza position and waited for Ranma to come and tie her up.

'_Well _there's_ something I never thought would happen._' she thought wryly, '_me, getting tied up by a _boy_ of all things!_'

Across the room, Nabiki and Kasumi sat against the wall, not willing to allow this…Rite? Ritual? Whatever it is…go on without them present.

"BOY!" Genma roared as he stomped into the dojo, glaring around as he looked for his son. He had been on the warpath ever since the _**Go-Ten-**__**Zō**_ technique that Ranma had used on him had worn off.

Unfortunately, for Genma, Ranma was out getting rope, as there rope he had used to tie up Genma had had to be cut, so the bald martial artist had been stomping about the house like an elephant with a toothache.

Sōun followed his old friend into the dojo and spoke to him in an attempt to calm him down. "Saotome-kun, please calm down. Ranma-kun isn't back yet." he said to Genma.

"Tendo-kun, he shows me **NO** respect!" Genma roared back, "He _has_ to be shown his place and soon! If that damned _guru_ hadn't sunken her claws into him, he would show me the proper respect due my status as his Master and father!"

"Like hell, old man." Ranma said as he walked in, a coil of rope slung over his shoulder, "You get the respect you deserve - precisely none."

Genma made to strike him, but was pinned by Ranma's eyes, which seemed to penetrate his very being.

"Pops, what I am about to do is delicate enough without you storming around like a bull in a china shop." Ranma said in a deadly serious tone of voice, "So I would ask you to either go out for a drink or sit still and say nothing until I have helped Akane. Now choose."

The elder Saotome glared at Ranma before he wheeled around and stomped out of the dojo, muttering darkly under his breath. The Tendos listened until they heard the front door slam.

Ranma looked at Sōun. "This isn't over. He'll be back."

"I agree." The Tendo Patriarch said in agreement, albeit _reluctant_ agreement.

"I will be totally focussed on Akane, so you have to hold him off if and when he tries something stupid." Ranma told Sōun, "If he, or anyone else, touches me or Akane at any point once we begin, the foreign chi could destabilise the entire process and cause severe damage to me and Akane."

"I will not permit that to happen." Sōun said firmly. _No one _would hurt his daughter and potential son-in-law if he had anything to say about it.

Ranma nodded and moved towards Akane, who stiffened where she knelt as she heard his approaching footsteps.

"Akane?" he said softly. The blue haired girl smiled wanly at him. "Hey. Ready to get purged of your anger?" he asked, trying to keep things upbeat.

"Umm…yeah." Akane said as she fidgeted slightly, "Will…will this hurt at all?" she asked hesitantly.

"No," Ranma replied, "No pain. The only outcomes are success or failure. Failure just means that you need to learn more about yourself before attempting this again."

This seemed to reassure Akane as the tension in her body eased slightly. "Right. So, umm…the rope…" Akane blushed slightly, "How will you…?"

"Put your arms behind your back horizontally." Ranma instructed. Akane did so. With the ease of obvious practice, The Saotome heir bound Akane's arms until she couldn't do much more than wiggle her fingers slightly.

"No offence Ranma, but I can break through these ropes fairly easily." Akane informed him.

"Actually, you can't." Ranma corrected her, "I infused the rope with my own chi. Until and unless your chi starts going out of control, that rope will be stronger than steel."

"Isn't that the _**Tetsu no Nuno (Iron Cloth)**_ technique?" Sōun asked curiously.

"A variation of it: _**Tetsu no Nuno **__**Tejō (Iron Cloth Manacles)**_." Ranma replied as he swiftly bound Akane's legs, "Unlike the original technique, which requires a constant flow of chi to be maintained longer than twenty seconds, my version lasts up to an hour as long as the cloth or rope is in a pattern, such as the binding techniques of Hojōjutsu (Japanese Martial Art Restraint Techniques) which I am using on Akane right now."

Standing back, Ranma examined Akane's restraints with a professional eye. The restraints were comfortable, didn't cut of the blood flow and completely solid.

Akane meanwhile, was fighting down a blush. Now that Ranma had told her about it, she could feel warmth of some kind from the ropes that encased her arms and legs. Ranma's chi. A part of his personal energy was keeping her from hurting herself and her family.

'_Okay, calm down Akane. You can think about all of this _after_ Ranma is finished saving you from becoming a berserker._' The Tendo Heiress told herself firmly.

"Well, I think we're just about ready to get started." Ranma said, before he looked over at Akane's sisters. "Please, do not speak louder than a whisper from this point on. Akane and I need absolute concentration here if we're to succeed."

The two girls nodded. Ranma turned back to Akane. "Ready?" he asked.

"Let's get it over with already." Akane snapped back out of nerves.

"Okay then. I take it you know how to meditate?" Ranma asked. Akane nodded. "Good. Close your eyes and meditate. Let me know when you're about to go into a trance."

Akane closed her eyes and relaxed, and began to do the mental exercises to enter a meditative state. Her breathing slowed and deepened and just before she entered the trance, she said, "Now." in a dreamy, slurred voice.

Ranma had been waiting for this. Extending his hand, he laid it at the base of her spine, just above her derriére, and channelled chi into her first chakra.

"Akane, this chakra is called the Earth Chakra." Ranma spoke softly, "It governs Survival and is blocked by Fear. What is it that you fear above all things?"

In Akane's mind, she immediately saw an image she tried not to think about; her being overwhelmed by the boys at school and used as a sex toy. Her mind and body instinctively rebelled against such a scenario and attempted to fight, but could not because of the chi-reinforced ropes binding her, so she had to settle for whimpering and crying.

Nabiki and Kasumi were in shock as their strong-willed, independent and grown-up little sister wept and whimpered like a child that had been beaten.

'_What could she be seeing to draw _that_ kind of reaction from her?_' Was their main thought, right up until they decided that they didn't really _want_ to know.

Ranma spoke to her urgently, but still softly, "Akane, what you see before you is just an illusion, a phantom your subconscious mind created as a manifestation of your fear. It is _not_ real. Imagine you are in a pool of water connected to a great river; let the fear flow into the river and disperse and never return."

Akane heard him and fought for self-control. Eventually, she pictured what Ranma described to her: a large pool of brimming golden water that was blocked by what seemed to be a roiling black sludge, which Akane presumed to be her fear. She exhaled and pictured the sludge being forced into the river that branched off from the pool via a small stream.

The black substance seemed to resist the nudge for a moment before being swept away in a flood of surging water that dissolved it into pieces, even as the phantom-nightmare conjured by her mind was ripped to pieces.

Ranma removed his hand once he saw that the meditative trance was broken. He walked around and knelt on one knee in front of her, raising her head with a gentle finger.

"Well done Akane." Ranma said softly, "You have cleared your Earth Chakra."

Akane's face was streaked with tear tracks and her eyes shone with still unshed tears. "I…I don't feel different." she whispered.

"While your fear has been banished, you still need the other two chakras cleared before you can release your anger." Ranma explained, "Then, and only then, will you feel different."

"R-Right." Akane said as she blinked her tears away, "Well, lets get to it then."

"Ok. Meditate again." Ranma directed her. Akane closed her eyes again and did as she was told. It took longer this time, probably due to the emotional maelstrom that was battering at the core of her being, but she managed it, uttering, "Now" again before she entered the trance.

Ranma delicately extended his index finger and placed it at the centre of Akane's throat and channelled chi into the chakra there.

"This chakra is called the Sound Chakra. It governs Truth and is blocked by Self-Deception, by the lies we tell ourselves." Ranma said quietly, "What do you lie do you tell yourself, Akane?"

Akane was immediately confronted with a phantom vision again, this time of herself, multiple versions of herself.

"_I hate boys!_"

"_All boys are like Kuno!_"

"_All boys are perverts!_"

"_Boys all try to hurt me!_"

"_They do nothing but disappoint and betray me!_"

"_The only good, safe man is Doctor Tofu and Kasumi keeps anyone who might be a threat to her monopoly away from him!_"

Akane's mouth automatically spoke the words that her phantom-selves said as they spoke them. The last one made Kasumi pale in shock. She had kept the one non-family related man away from Akane, making her condition worse! What kind of a sister was she!?

"You don't hate boys, you hate what that idiot Kuno has convinced them to do." Ranma rebutted calmly, "Any normal boy is interested in girls, but what happened here is…unusual. In order to attempt to have any future relationships, you must have trust, in both yourself, your family and in others. Let the deceptions you have flow into the river and disappear like mist in the sunlight."

A moment later, Akane's eyes opened. "Was that last bit supposed to be a pun?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh…damn. Did it again." Ranma chuckled nervously, "Bad habit I developed with my guru, making bad puns as we worked. Ready for the last chakra?"

"Bring it!" Akane challenged him with a small smile as she closed her eyes and re-entered the meditative state without being told to. Her muttered "Now" was almost inaudible.

The Saotome Heir touched Akane's Third-Eye point with a chi-infused finger and gently stimulated the chakra.

"This chakra is called the Light Chakra. It governs Insight and is blocked by Illusion, the illusions made by the world and ourselves. What is the world _hiding_ from you Akane?" Ranma asked.

After a moment, Akane's face turned bright red. "Should I…let the illusion wash away too?" Akane asked in a squeak.

'_What the..? Well, whatever it is that she's thinking about ain't my business._' Ranma thought. Aloud, he said, "Yes. Let the pool run clean again."

Akane's eyes opened after a strongly exhaled breath. "Now what?" she asked.

"Try and undo the ropes." Ranma directed her. Akane tried and found them falling off her with barely any pressure on her part. When she undid the ropes on her legs and stood up, she was suddenly gasping in pain. It felt like her skin was trying to contain molten magma.

"W-What's...happening t-to me?" she gasped as Ranma grabbed her and lead her out of the dojo.

"Your anger-induced chi has lost it's anchors in you and is trying to find a new one." Ranma replied as they strode into the garden, "I'd rather that it didn't though, so we're going to forcefully expel it."

"How?" asked an anxious Sōun. He and his other two daughters had followed Akane and Ranma out into the garden.

Ranma grinned. "With a chi blast. That will remove the anger-chi and, without the anchors that kept the vicious circle looping, the anger will not grow again or regenerate. She'll fall unconscious for a day, maybe a day and a half and wake up feeling like a million yen."

Nabiki shivered at that comparison. She was all about the yen.

Ranma left Akane's side and stood a couple of meters opposite her. "Akane, a chi blast is different for each emotion, but you have to feel it in order to use it. The first time will come automatically. Just let the chi guide your body into what it wants you to do."

Akane thought. She remembered her nightmares, her fears, all the fights and scuffles she had endured with the Hentai Horde and Kuno. Anger coursed through her veins, rage emanated from her like a palpable wave and righteous fury sparked from her eyes.

She raised her right arm, drew it back and let rip with a blast of crimson red chi that lanced at Ranma like a thunderbolt. Ranma fired a one-handed blue chi blast to meet Akane's own blast. When the two chi blasts met in mid-air, the backlash sent a howling gale of wind across the yard, making the other Tendos shield their faces from the clash.

Akane raised her other fist and sent another crimson blast at Ranma, who countered with another blue blast. The two were deadlocked and seemed set to stay that way.

Ranma's eyes widened. _Four extra arms _had just materialised on Akane and were sending their own blasts at his! Time to get serious.

"_**Mōko Takabisha! (Pride of the Fierce Tiger!)**_" Ranma yelled as his chi blasts upped themselves to twice their size and began to push all six of Akane's blasts back.

Akane roared in a voice that was barely recognisable as her own, "_**Kyōki Ashura no Abare! (Rampage of the Mad Asura!)**_" As _her_ chi blasts _tripled_ in size…but they did not push Ranma's blasts back.

'_Not bad for a first try, but she is just sending the chi in the general direction that she wants, rather than shaping them and guiding them._' Ranma thought with a grin, '_Cool skill beats righteous fury every day of the week._'

Gradually, the crimson blasts were pushed back until they were only a foot away from a struggling Akane. With a final roar, Akane forced Ranma's duel chi blasts back to about halfway between them before the blasts imploded, throwing Ranma into the pond and Akane flat on her back from the out rush of released air.

As a female Ranma clawed her way out of the pond, she saw three worried looking figures standing around a comatose Akane and snorted. Ten thousand yen said either Kasumi or Sōun would blow up at her for this, despite her warnings beforehand.

As she staggered over to the Tendo Family, sure enough, Kasumi looked at her with a severe look of disapproval, which was the closest Ranma had ever seen the older girl get to outright anger.

"_What_ has happened to my sister, Ranma-san?" Kasumi asked frostily.

"Exactly what I _said_ would happen." Ranma replied tiredly, "She exhausted all of her anger-induced chi and fell unconscious, a state in which she will remain in for at _least_ twelve hours, while her chi system reforms itself to exist without the anger-chi. Man, she was stronger than I figured she would be. A quicksilver temper must be the norm for her."

"It is." Nabiki confirmed as she stood and walked up to her elder sister, "Kasumi-nee-san, Ranma was very blunt and upfront when he…she…told us what would happen. Regretfully, words do not do the phenomenon justice, it would seem."

"It was a lot more spectacular than I anticipated." Ranma admitted, "I think I slightly underestimated how much anger she had built up in her system."

"Quite." Nabiki said dryly, as Genma stomped back into the garden and locked eyes with his son in cursed form.

"BOY!" The elder Saotome shouted in slightly drunken anger.

"Kami all above, here we go again!" Ranma groaned.

**RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR**

**Next Chapter: The New Akane**

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**Techniques Lexicon**

**Techniques in (Brackets) are my creations.**

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_**(Go-**__**Ten-Zō **_- Five-Point-Statue_**)**_

_By hitting five separate pressure points in very rapid succession, the user freezes the target in the exact pose they were in as they were being struck, allowing only regular breathing and eye movement/blinking. Lasts up to half an hour._

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**Mōko Takabisha **- Pride of the Fierce Tiger

_An emotion-based chi blast that uses pride, self-confidence or arrogance as a base. An incomplete technique that is nevertheless effective, being capable of demolishing a concrete wall with a moderately strong blast._

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_**(**_**Kyōki Ashura no Abare **- Rampage of the Mad Asura_**)**_

_An emotion-based chi blast that uses righteous fury, rage and hatred as a base. A self destructive, incomplete technique that can manifest up to four additional battle-aura arms to launch additional blasts at the opponent. Despite the intimidation the arms give off, it is actually less powerful than either the Shishi Hokodan or the Mōko Takabisha._

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	6. The New Akane

**Disclaimer: I don't own Ranma ½.**

"Ranma" -Japanese speech

'_Akane_' -Thoughts

_{Grandmother}_ -Chinese

_**Attack**_ -Martial Arts Technique

**Chapter 6: The New Akane**

**Timeskip - The Next Day - Dinnertime**

**Akane's Room, Tendo Household**

Akane groaned as she swam back to consciousness, her head pounding like hammers on a blacksmith's anvil and her throat was desert dry. A hand caught her shoulder as she made to sit up in bed.

"Easy, there Akane." Kasumi said gently as she eased her sister back down, "You've been out for over twelve hours. How do you feel?"

"Head…sore…" Akane replied hoarsely. Kasumi nodded, expecting this, and helped Akane eat some rice porridge, followed by an aspirin washed down with a sip of water.

"What happened after I blacked out yesterday?" Akane asked as her headache began to subside as the aspirin began to kick in.

Kasumi settled back in the chair she had evidently brought in to await Akane waking up and began to tell her little sister of the events following her descent into unconsciousness.

_Flashback_

"_BOY!" Genma bellowed drunkenly as he advanced on his son's cursed form, with a raised arm._

"_Kami all above, here we go again!" Ranma groaned as she turned to face her father wearily. It was plain to the three conscious Tendo's that Ranma was greatly weakened by his efforts with Akane, with both the stimulation of the three Chakras and his chi blast duel with an enraged Akane._

"_It ish time and long _pasht _time, Boy, that you give me the reshpect I desherve as your Mashter!" Genma slurred as he wobbly strode forwards._

"_Pops, _sit_ down before you _fall _down." Ranma advised him, which Genma of course ignored._

"_Saotome-kun, you need to lie down." __Sōun tried to placate his friend, "You're drunk and need to calm down."_

"_Tendo-kun, thish ishn't any of your bishnessh." the bald man slurred, "It's a Shaotome School internal problem, sho butt out!"_

_With that, Genma lunged at Ranma with his fist drawn back for a punch._

_Ranma cursed and managed to barely dodge the clumsy blow. Quite how her father had gotten totally rat-arsed in less than half an hour was beyond the petite redhead, but she had more pressing matters to concern herself with right now._

_Her body was exhausted both from the sheer amount of chi she had just used against Akane and the disruption her transformation into her cursed form had caused to her chi pathways, meaning she'd need at least fifteen minutes to fully recover after using a double full powered __**Mōko Takabisha**__._

_To sum things up, she was in trouble._

_Genma barely managed to recover from his drunken punch before he could fall in the pond. Ranma was really glad right now that her father had no skill in __**Suiken**__**(Drunken Fist)**__. He just enjoyed the buzz that sake gave him too much to use the deadly fighting style._

"_Boy! How dare you fight me in that disgraceful form!" He slurred as he wheeled around._

"_I can beat you're ass just like I am, old man!" Ranma retorted, her voice full of bravado._

_Nabiki and Kasumi had backed off before the first punch had been thrown, but the 'Ice Queen' decided that this was quite enough and turned to her father._

"_Daddy, why are you just _standing_ there?" she demanded, "_Do_ something!"_

"_I cannot." The Tendo Patriarch replied gravely, "Saotome-kun has deemed this an internal matter of the Saotome School, so I cannot interfere unless and until it affects the Tendo School."_

_Nabiki rolled her eyes at this exasperatedly, "Daddy, Ranma is tentatively engaged to both me and Akane. This means this _is_ a matter for the Tendo School."_

_Sōun's face cleared of doubt at this conclusion from his daughter. "Of course, how foolish of me to forget! Aha!" he said sheepishly before he leapt at Genma, who had been drunkenly swiping at Ranma unsuccessfully, and dealt him a swift chop to the back of the head, knocking him unconscious._

_Ranma collapsed onto one knee, panting and threw __Sōun a grateful look. The Master of the Tendo School nodded back in acknowledgement as he walked over and assisted Ranma to her feet._

_Nabiki nodded approvingly as she and Kasumi picked up the dead weight that was Akane and started towards the house. One more disaster averted thanks to some succinct words in the right ear, a Nabiki Tendo specialty._

_Flashback End_

Akane was shaking her head in disbelief as Kasumi finished her tale.

"I don't know about you, Onee-chan, but I think there's something off about how obsessed Ranma-san's father is about controlling him." Akane said with a frown.

"I think you are right." Kasumi said slowly, "He _has_ gone off the deep-end multiple times when Ranma refuses to treat him as a superior. What he did yesterday while drunk proves that fact."

Kasumi hesitated before continuing, "Yesterday also made it clear how I was contributing to your…problem…albeit unknowingly. I am sorry, Akane-chan." The oldest daughter of the Tendo household bowed low in her seat in apology, making Akane gape in astonishment.

"What's wrong, Kasumi-Onee-chan?" Akane asked in concern. She very rarely saw her eldest sister look anything but as calm and tranquil as a Bodhisattva at work.

"When Ranma cleared the second… 'chakra'…yesterday, you spoke your self-deceptions aloud." Kasumi said uncomfortably as she sat up straight again, "It made me realise how I isolated you from the only non-family male that you trusted, just because I was territorial about Ono. I knew you had a crush on him, you see. But I _never_ imagined that your anger and fear would get out of control like it did, and it was partially _my_ fault."

"Oh, Onee-chan." Akane sighed, "I knew from the get-go that you and Doctor Tofu liked each other. The doctor isn't exactly subtle about it y'know. Moreover, I can usually read you well enough to see that you like him as well. I just had a schoolgirl crush on him, one I knew I would have to grow out of sooner or later."

"So…you forgive me then?" Kasumi asked hopefully.

"There's nothing for me to forgive." Akane replied with a smile.

Kasumi returned the smile tremulously and wrapped Akane in a warm hug that the younger girl returned wholeheartedly.

"Well well, isn't _this_ is a nice little family scene." a voice spoke from behind Kasumi, making the two sisters jump in surprise. Nabiki leaned against the open door, dressed in her usual attire of shorts and a vest. The look on her face suggested vast amusement at her elder and younger siblings.

"Nabiki-chan, you really should announce yourself before entering a room!" Kasumi scolded, "You gave us both such a fright!"

"Not my fault if you are so unobservant that you can't hear the door opening." Nabiki replied, unfazed by Kasumi's words, "By the way, Daddy was wondering when dinner would be."

"Oh my!" Kasumi said as she looked at the clock and saw it was almost the usual time for dinner, "I'd better get busy!"

With a pat on Akane's head as she got up, Kasumi walked sedately past Nabiki and down the stairs to start on dinner preparations. Nabiki walked into Akane's room and shut the door behind her.

"She must have _really_ needed to make that apology." Nabiki remarked as she sauntered over to the recently vacated chair and sat down, "Kasumi-nee hasn't been late making a meal, barring unforeseen happenings, since just after Okaa-san passed away."

"I have a hard time remembering that far back." Akane confessed.

"You were only little, so it's hardly a surprise." Nabiki assured her.

"Fair enough. So what do you want to talk about, Nabiki-nee-san?" Akane asked.

"Am I not allowed to visit my darling little sister after she has endured a stressful undertaking?" Nabiki asked in a mock-offended voice.

"When it's you we're talking about…no." Akane deadpanned, making Nabiki grin.

"Ah, Akane. You know me so well." Nabiki said as she pretended to wipe away a tear of pride before she grinned, "You always were able to see through most of my façades easily, sis. I wondered why you suddenly became as insightful as a blind man in a soundless tunnel did when it came to my schemes. Now I know…"

"Damned idiot Kuno…" Akane muttered as she looked out the window.

"Hmm…Kuno-baby wanted to know where you were today." Nabiki said casually.

"You told him where he could go, I hope." Akane snorted in disgust.

"Not in as many words, but that is the essence of what I told him, yes." Nabiki replied with a wicked grin that made Akane giggle.

"So, how does it feel to have all that anger gone?" Nabiki asked curiously.

Akane paused in her giggling and thought for a moment.

"It feels like…I dunno…like I've been walking around in a mist that muffled my senses. I could hear and see, but anything and everything was distorted and unclear. Now…_now_ it's like the mist has cleared and I can see and hear clearly again." the Tendo Heiress said with a shake of her head, "I can't _believe_ my own anger distorted my perceptions so much."

Nabiki took this in with interest. It seemed that Ranma had accurately described the effects the anger-induced chi had had on Akane and the 'Ice Queen' was glad to have her real little sister back. She owed Ranma Saotome a debt for helping her sister and Nabiki Tendo was honourable enough, despite her inflated bad reputation, to repay such a debt.

"Any other…_illuminating_…revelations?" Nabiki asked delicately.

Akane gave her sister an amused look. "You mean 'what caused me to blush at the third chakra'?" she asked knowingly. Nabiki nodded in agreement.

The bluenette sighed as she remembered the vision that Ranma's stimulation of her Light Chakra had shown her. She had been forced to see herself walking hand in hand with both Male-Ranma AND Female-Ranma. She speculated that the chi Ranma had inserted into her had influenced the subjects in the image, but not the image itself. The initial image had been followed by some more…_intimate_ images that had caused her to blush.

"I…think I like girls and boys." Akane admitted slowly, "Ranma said that the Light Chakra is 'governed by Insight and blocked by Illusion, especially the illusions created by the world and ourselves', so I guess…"

"That because homosexual relationships are frowned upon by a lot of people, you subconsciously buried that part of you?" Nabiki interrupted her, "I agree. I also think part of the fear that was fuelling your anger was the fear of having your little secret discovered and exposed to all and sundry."

"I...guess that makes sense." Akane said thoughtfully.

"I know it does…from personal experience." Nabiki said casually.

Akane blinked in incomprehension for a moment before her eyes widened at the tacit admission her sister had just made.

"I...see." Akane said slowly as she adjusted her worldview to accommodate this new datum, "Interesting…it seems we are more similar than I thought, Biki-nee."

Nabiki smiled as Akane called her by the old nickname that she had coined as a child. "Looks like it, A-chan. Now that you are back to yourself, we need to talk about the engagement."

"Yes we do." Akane replied with a nod, "What's your take on it?"

"We need a male dojo master." Nabiki replied immediately, "No offence to you or your skills, but the bias against female Masters, from what I've researched, is severe enough that the dojo's income would be adversely affected. Inheritance Tax also needs to be taken into consideration, as it will be moot if Daddy gives it to Ranma as a betrothal gift.

On the Saotome's side, Ranma is skilled enough that he's just a hop, skip and a jump away from mastery already, but financially, the Saotome's haven't got the cash to build a dojo of their own. From what I've gathered from chatting with Ranma while you were asleep, he has basically lived hand to mouth on the road for ten or twelve years and has only stayed in the same place for more than a few days a grand total of twice."

Akane frowned. "Over ten years with that old man…? Urgh, no-way!" she shuddered in disgust.

"With you there." Nabiki agreed with her, "The remarks Ranma made yesterday lead me to believe that prior to his own, for lack of a better term, Chakra Cleansing, he was basically a smaller, less virulent, version of his father. He relied almost completely on Genma for information on almost everything and had next to no guile or subterfuge, which would have made him easy to manipulate and deceive. I think his father did that deliberately."

"But…why?" Akane asked, bewildered.

"I think that part of the reason for the engagement, at least for Daddy and Mr Saotome, was to ensure a comfortable retirement for the two of them." Nabiki postulated, "With Ranma stronger than you because of his more extensive training and his total dependence on his father's council for most things, Mr Saotome was setting things up to be the power behind the throne, so to speak."

"Why that…" Akane let loose several choice expletives that did not reflect well on Genma Saotome's manhood and honour and even brought into question what species he was.

Nabiki listened in amusement to her sister cursing the bald man up one way and down the other. As she began to repeat herself, Nabiki decided to step in.

"Akane, learn some new material." she advised her sister dryly, "You're starting to repeat yourself."

The bedridden bluenette glared at her sister before huffing and saying, "Fine, so what can we do?"

"Well, most of Mr Saotome's control over Ranma evaporated when he had those three Chakra's of his cleansed by that Guru of his." Nabiki replied thoughtfully, "I'd guess that she also gave him a crash-course in tact and counter-deception as well. We _really_ have to find out exactly what happened in China the first year they were there."

"True…so…the engagement?" Akane asked softly.

Nabiki regarded Akane steadily. "I have no objections to Ranma because of his curse. Neither, I suspect, do you." she stated with a slight blush, echoed on her sibling's face, "As I thought. I suggest that, since neither of us dislikes the idea, we let him decide at the end of the six month period, although I think you will be the one he chooses."

"Why? You're prettier than me." Akane pointed out.

"Ranma is a martial artist, as are you. You can both understand each other fairly well because of that." Nabiki replied, "Add into that you are going to be taught by him and I'd say it's in the bag."

After a moment she added, "Don't sell your looks short either little sister. I'll admit, I have nice legs and boobs, but yours are cute too. Otherwise that idiot Kuno-baby and the Hentai Horde wouldn't be thinking with their lower heads like they do."

"I'd really like an endorsement that _doesn't_ involve being ambushed by hormonal boys and an idiot every morning." Akane groused grumpily.

"Then how about the fact that if you weren't my sister, I'd probably sleep with you without hesitation." Nabiki said with a wicked smirk.

"NABIKI!" Akane yelped in shock.

"Then again, if I'm lucky when he chooses you, Ranma might take me on as a mistress." Nabiki continued, her eyes sparkling at her steadily reddening sister in amusement, "If that happens, a threesome is almost inevitable. Interested, A-chan?"

Akane was reduced to a spluttering red-faced mess as her embarrassment factor rose exponentially. She could not _believe_ that Nabiki had just said all of that! They were sisters for crying out loud!

Before Akane could say anything else, Kasumi called them down for dinner, which allowed Nabiki to escape from the wrath of her younger sister with a smile across her face.

Akane changed into her gi, which was laid out nearby, and walked down for dinner, all the while muttering about perverted sisters.

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**After Dinner**

**Tendo Family Dojo**

Ranma shook his head as he followed Akane to the dojo. Dinner had been mostly relaxed, what with Akane and the rest of the Tendos celebrating her recovery. The only fly in the ointment had been his father glaring at him as he messily stuffed his face -yuck.

He really didn't understand _why_ his father was such a control freak when it came to him. He actually didn't really _care_ why, but it was slightly frustrating to have his own father trying to control him all the time without knowing why the old man was doing it.

"Ranma? Is something wrong?" Akane asked him as they entered the dojo and she saw the distracted look on his face.

"Hmm? Oh, no. Just thinking how messed up my old man is." Ranma replied honestly.

"Has he always been this way?" Akane asked curiously.

"Pretty much." Ranma replied, "Ever since last year, though, he's gotten more…extreme…in his efforts to control me. He's pretty offended that I was taught by someone else for almost an entire year while he was…indisposed."

"Sooner or later, you are going to have to tell us the whole story of your first year in China. You do realise that, right?" Akane pointed out.

"And long may it be in coming." Ranma mock prayed.

"Fine, don't tell us." Akane huffed and crossed her arms, "It'll just be that much more sweeter when we find out for ourselves."

"By 'we', I'm assuming you mean Nabiki and you, right?" Ranma clarified. When Akane nodded in confirmation, Ranma grinned.

"In the unlikely event you two do manage to find out anything without asking me or Pop, I will be _very_ impressed." he said with a small chuckle.

"Oh, is that a challenge I hear, Ranma-kun?" Nabiki said as she entered the dojo behind him.

"If you like." Ranma replied, "The likelihood you could actually find anything is astronomical though."

"We'll see." Nabiki replied firmly, a steely look in her eyes. She loved proving how good her information network was.

"Quite. Now, I'm about to start correcting Akane's stances, so if there's nothing else…?" Ranma said politely, but firmly.

"As it so happens there is." Nabiki replied before she looked at Akane, "A-chan, you aren't going to get any peace from Kuno-baby or the Hentai Horde, even with Ranma-kun here helping you out."

"Damned Kuno…" Akane muttered.

"He will be." Nabiki said absently, "There's just about one thing that I can think of that will sort this out, temporarily at least, but I doubt either of you will like the idea."

Akane and Ranma looked at each other then back at Nabiki. "Try us." they replied simultaneously.

Nabiki told them. She was right; they didn't like it.

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**Next Chapter: Akane's Last Stand**

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End file.
